NFR Sampling satisfaction with life with the Farmer Wave

Appalachia: everybody waves a subdued, economical wave.....a couple of fingers, usually. At first, it was surprising to find out I knew so many people there when I didn't actually know anybody.
I bought a motorcycle a few years back. Everybody waved the special "low" motorcycle
brotherhood wave except the cops. They were too busy being aloof, but that was ok too.
Maybe we need a special fly fishing wave.

Only problem around here, it seems if you're friendly at all they think you want to kill them or steal from them. People freak out.

Onto subject. I always do a friendly wave. I don't do the Nebraskan farmer wave. Which is literally your hand on the steering wheel, and you simply raise your index (no, not the middle finger) in a wave motion. That's saying "hello, have a good day" basically. Funny being back on the family farm and driving through town. You'd see pre teens driving, usually sitting on several books, and doing the wave as you drove by. My exwife didn't believe about the wave, until she got there to visit. I still do a wave when I'm driving down my side roads on my job. It's rural Key Peninsula, so I'm on the backroads most of the day. But as I pass a customer, I wave.

I lived in VA for ten years or so. As a threashold matter, "hello, goodbye, please, and thank you," are the standards of civil interaction in the American South. The "code" for signaling hello from the road, in Charles City Co., was a single index finger raised off of the steering wheel ii you were not aquainted with the oncoming driver, and both index fingers, if you were. Such ought to be no surprise, in a land where older southern women - Richmond bluehairs - will, I swear, refer to a confilct which took between 600,000 and 700,000 lives, as "the late unpleasantness." Quail hunting isn't the only thing I miss about The Old Dominion.

I lived in VA for ten years or so. As a threashold matter, "hello, goodbye, please, and thank you," are the standards of civil interaction in the American South. The "code" for signaling hello from the road, in Charles City Co., was a single index finger raised off of the steering whell ii you were not aquainted with the oncoming driver, and both index fingers, if you were. Such ought to be no surprise, in a land where older southern women - Richmond bluehairs - will, I swear, refer to a confilct which took between 600,000 and 700,000 lives, as "the late unpleasantness." Quail hunting isn't the only thing I miss about The Old Dominion.

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Interesting. I spent some years in the south western part of Virginia.....it's a very different culture, thats for sure. I do remember opening day for fishing season once though; I swear the stream was narrow enough to jump over and there were guys all over the place.... Beautiful country though, and whenever I go back I take along a copy of 'Fishing Virginia Trout Streams' with me.

I was over in Sun Valley last week. The only return wave I got was from some old boy in a bucket truck. Although it seems to be fashionable to say on a chair lift or a bar stool that you're from Ketchum, I think these people are stretching it. It seems like nearly everyone is from out of town now. Most of the lodge employees are from Chile or Argentina.

Last month between Wasco and Condon, I went 7 for 8. The only car that failed to return a wave (or wave first) was a sheriff's car. Maybe he was looking down at his radar.

Automobile waves are regional, though I've found I get a lot more of the subtle 'fingers lifted off the steering wheel' wave when I'm driving my pickup deep in a rural area. These folk classify waves from sedans as somewhat suspicious.

And in the panhandle of North Idaho....a wave from anybody with a full set of natural teeth, is viewed as 'gubmint interference'.

I always wave when I am out in the puckerbrush, never know when I might be needing a ride or help... Most are returned in that situation. The closer I get to "civilization", the fewer positive responses. Back in the neighborhood, it's about 50-50, with older folks (like me) seeming to be more likely to respond. Wifey never waves, says you don't know who's packin' and might be having a bad hair day. <<sigh>>

I worked a good while down around Dayton, WA. Around there most everyone returned the wave. It was actually funny how obvious it was when a season opened for fish or game because of the arrival of non-wavers. Roads in the country around Dayton were usually relatively quiet, and most cars would acknowledge you. Then on opening weekend for lakes or turkey, suddenly the quiet mountains were full of people who refused to respond to a wave. A slightly different but related thing happened to me while working around Lower Granite Dam. Pretty quiet area where most people waved. Then summer came, and with it hordes of College students wanting to hit the beach/dunes, none of whom would acknowledge you. Makes for an interesting comparison between the "gruff" old farmer, and the supposedly outgoing young students.

Sorry for not waving over Satus, I'm usually too busy trying to pass the asshole at the head of the 13 car que that refuses to just fuck off out of the way, to bother with eyeballing the guy in the opposite lane.

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We once had some twit in a brand-new Winebago, paper plates and all, refuse to pull over on 120 out of Yosemite years ago. Musta had 40-50 cars behind him. Wellll.... There's some nasty granite outcrops that limit how far over the fog line you can wander if you're not careful. Sure enough, the bastard got a littttttle too close to one, and ripped the entire right side off his new rig! He pulled over then, alright! We were six or seven cars behind him, and saw the whole thing! Everybody waved-with their middle fingers.

Here in Nebraska on the rural gravel roads a finger wave is almost always returned. One, two or three fingers is accepted. If you raise your hand off the steering wheel that means you want them to stop and talk.

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I moved from Nebraska to Western WA two years ago. It used to be that I would do the two finger wave all the time, but out here it seems like every time I wave I get the stink-eye, even on gravel roads.

Krusty might to be on to something. Out on 206 between Wasco and Condon, I'm driving my old fishing truck. In Ketchum, I was driving my wife's indistinguishable silver SUV.

It's getting worse. My wife has caught me waving at livestock, and waving at on coming traffic at night. She insists I can't count these as non-responses.

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In the Walla Walla area, I get considerably less response when waving from the Subaru Outback in comparison to when I was driving the (now gone) crew cab pickup. I have an old Dodge Powerwagon I'll gas up and take out next time and see if my results improve. It says "farm truck" all over it

When I was in Wyoming a few years back, I was walking to the creek in town with a fly rod. No joke in three blocks I had 8 guys in pick up trucks wave at me. I would always return the wave and include a smile as well!
I will have to give this a shot sometime. Only problem is people cant really see in my car since my windows are tinted so much.